Wyrm creatures

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Flesh Packs The fomori known as Flesh Packs represent one of Pentex’s most impressive technical achievements in the field of spiritual corruption. It is an infectious fomor, capable of spreading its mutant state to others. Once possessed, a Flesh Pack fomor suffers rapid, severe decline of his mental faculties, at the same time the possessing Bane pumps him full of aggression and a growing hunger for raw meat any kind will do. Most Flesh Pack ―alphas‖ begin by raiding the nearest grocery store, but quickly proceed to devouring neighborhood pets and then neighbors. A growing Flesh Pack is easily capable of depopulating a small town or village. Flesh Packs orient around the leadership of an alpha, the original fomor that infected the rest of the pack. This ―Patient Zero‖ is usually a bit smarter and stronger than his fellows are, and is, thankfully, the only one capable of spreading the infection. Unfortunately, the ―beta‖ fomori sense this; and they will sacrifice themselves to protect the pack’s alpha. Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3, Charisma 1, Manipulation 1, Appearance 1, Perception 3, Intelligence 1, Wits 3 Abilities: Alertness 3, Athletics 2, Brawl 3, Intimidation 3, Melee 2, Stealth 3 Backgrounds: None Powers: Claws and Fangs (alpha only), Extra Speed, Immunity to the Delirium, Regeneration. Willpower: 4 Equipment: Whatever the Flesh Pack has come across that works as a weapon. Image: Flesh Pack ―betas‖ look outwardly human, but seem anything but normal. They’re disheveled, filthy, and utterly manic with the need to eat. Any meat will do. A flesh pack will descend on a supermarket and tear apart its meat section as readily as they’ll consume the shoppers. They’re never sated, and their regenerative powers will allow them to feast on in agony almost indefinitely, even as their stomachs rupture and re-seal around lumps of raw flesh. The alpha fomor of a Flesh Pack is bigger than the rest, and develops jagged fangs and bony claws about a week after succumbing to full possession.

description

Creatures of the Wyrm

Transcript of Wyrm creatures

  • Flesh Packs

    The fomori known as Flesh Packs represent one of Pentexs most impressive technical achievements in the field of spiritual corruption. It is an infectious

    fomor, capable of spreading its mutant state to others.

    Once possessed, a Flesh Pack fomor suffers rapid, severe decline of his mental

    faculties, at the same time the possessing Bane pumps him full of aggression and

    a growing hunger for raw meat any kind will do. Most Flesh Pack alphas begin by raiding the nearest grocery store, but quickly proceed to devouring

    neighborhood pets and then neighbors. A growing Flesh Pack is easily capable

    of depopulating a small town or village.

    Flesh Packs orient around the leadership of an alpha, the original fomor that

    infected the rest of the pack. This Patient Zero is usually a bit smarter and stronger than his fellows are, and is, thankfully, the only one capable of

    spreading the infection. Unfortunately, the beta fomori sense this; and they will sacrifice themselves to protect the packs alpha.

    Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3, Charisma 1, Manipulation 1,

    Appearance 1, Perception 3, Intelligence 1, Wits 3

    Abilities: Alertness 3, Athletics 2, Brawl 3, Intimidation 3, Melee 2, Stealth 3

    Backgrounds: None

    Powers: Claws and Fangs (alpha only), Extra Speed, Immunity to the Delirium,

    Regeneration.

    Willpower: 4

    Equipment: Whatever the Flesh Pack has come across that works as a weapon.

    Image: Flesh Pack betas look outwardly human, but seem anything but normal. Theyre disheveled, filthy, and utterly manic with the need to eat. Any meat will do. A flesh pack will descend on a supermarket and tear apart its meat

    section as readily as theyll consume the shoppers. Theyre never sated, and their regenerative powers will allow them to feast on in agony almost

    indefinitely, even as their stomachs rupture and re-seal around lumps of raw

    flesh.

    The alpha fomor of a Flesh Pack is bigger than the rest, and develops jagged

    fangs and bony claws about a week after succumbing to full possession.

  • Genesis: Flesh Packs spawn from Banes known as Winding Hungers, a kind of

    cannibal-spirit of gluttony and murder. Winding Hungers are only capable of

    possessing those who have eaten human flesh, making their fomori blessedly

    rare.

    Beta fomori are infected when someone survives a bite from the alpha fomor. The fomors murderous aggression acts as a vector for the Winding Hunger to possess additional hosts while remaining rooted in the alpha fomor. Two factors limit the size of Flesh Packs: only the alpha can create more fomori,

    and the absolute power of the Winding Hunger, which can only muster enough

    power to spread itself across fifteen to twenty-five fomori in total.

    Roleplaying Notes: Hard to think, dont need to think, need to eat; youve never needed anything so

    bad. Wait, did something move over there? Meat! Does it look familiar? The

    screams dont matter, just the blood on your tongue and the flesh ripping between your teeth.

    Damnit, youre still hungry.

    Hollow Men

    The ultimate origins of the Hollow Men are a mystery. They are among the

    oldest of all the fomori breeds. They first appear in Fianna ballads dating back to

    Roman-era Britain, and that theyre extremely long-lived. Hollow Men serve the Wyrm effectively and with intense drive, having led many great assaults against

    Gaia down through the centuries. Theyre also among the most disturbing of fomori.

    A Hollow Man (or Woman) is an individual who has been possessed by a

    Scavenger Pack Bane, they are a hollowed-out skin animated by a colony of

    vermin, little more than a channel for the black urges of the Wyrm.

    Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2, Charisma 2, Manipulation 3,

    Appearance 1, Perception 3, Intelligence 4, Wits 3

    Abilities: Alertness 3, Athletics 3, Brawl 3, Expression 2, Firearms 2,

    Intimidation 4, Occult 3, Primal-Urge 4, Stealth 2, Subterfuge 3, Survival 3

    Backgrounds: None

    Powers: Colony Powers (see sidebar), Dispersion, Immunity to the Delirium,

    Prolonged Life, Regeneration.

  • Regeneration requires calling more animals from the surrounding area to

    replenish and mend wounds; if no such creatures are available, the power

    doesnt work.

    Willpower: 8

    Equipment: Heavy trench coat and wide-brimmed hat, revolver.

    Image: A Hollow Man can only pass for human at a distance or in poor light.

    Up close, it becomes clear that they have no eyes, teeth, or tongue. Their skin

    rustles and surges with the motions of the colony within, and occasionally a

    member of that colony will peek out through an available orifice, or crawl across

    the surface of the Hollow Mans skin. Despite their mutilations, Hollow Men are still able to perceive the world, and to speak, although their voices are the

    modulated buzzing of hornets, or the chorused hiss of serpents.

    Genesis: Hollow Men are thankfully rare. Scavenger Pack Banes can only

    possess a relatively fresh, mostly hollowed out body. The ideal body is one still

    in the process of dying. The Bane drives packs of its patron vermin, such as rats,

    snakes, roaches, or wasps, into the gutted husk and complete the task of

    hollowing it out. Within a matter of minutes or hours, the new fomor.

    Roleplaying Notes: Youre empty. You have your old memories, but not your old life. You hate everything, especially the colony that nips at your skin and

    skitters across your bones. Nevertheless, you need them. Without them, youd be so empty. So alone. Without the rats in your eyes, you couldnt see. Without the rats in your head, you couldnt think. Theyre everything to you now. You need them. You hate them. You need them.

    EXAMPLE COLONY POWERS

    Hollow Men are among the upper echelon of fomor power, but the exact nature

    of that power differs depending on the type of Scavenger Bane possessing them.

    Some examples are below:

    Spider Colony: Venomous bite, Wall Walking, Webbing

    Rat Colony: Footpads, Infectious Touch, Rat Head

    Constrictor Colony: Maw of the Wyrm, Mega-Strength, Rat Head

    Normalites

  • These tragic horrors are the result of a number of Pentex projects started during

    the late 1980s to crush the wills of homosexual men and women through

    curative therapy programs. The ultimate result of the program is a Normalite: a faceless, sexless fomor capable of instinctively detecting the presence of

    supernatural entities, and filled with an equally instinctive desire to destroy

    them. Pentex First Teams use packs of these baying, featureless monstrosities to

    hunt Garou and Kinfolk.

    Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3, Charisma 1, Manipulation 1,

    Appearance 1, Perception 3, Intelligence 2, Wits 3

    Abilities: Alertness 3, Brawl 3, Intimidation 4, Primal-Urge 2, Stealth 2

    Backgrounds: None

    Powers: Homogeneity, Immunity to the Delirium, Sense the Unnatural,

    Venomous Bite

    Willpower: 3

    Equipment: Generally none, not even clothes.

    Image: A Normalites bone structure distorts, allowing it to run on all fours. Its body is hairless, sexless, and without distinguishing characteristics such as scars

    or tattoos. The Normalites pigmentation shifts over time until the fomor is an unearthly paper-white. The Normalites facial features disappear save for a gaping mouth; somehow, this fails to impair their keen senses.

    Roleplaying Notes: At first, the program seemed like it worked. You realized

    that your desires were disgusting and wrong, but over time, they faded away.

    Granted, no heterosexual impulses rose up to replace them, but that was okay, it

    was enough just to be free, for a while. Then your other

    desires began to fade as well, even as you became acutely sensitive to the freaks

    around you. Your rage toward anything abnormal grew, even as everything else dimmed out, you managed to become normal, so why couldnt everyone else?

    Worst of all were the freaks and you knew them to be freaks who seemed completely normal on the outside. By the time your genitals atrophied away, and

    your smooth flesh reabsorbed your eyes and nose, all you could think of was to

    hunt down the other, hate the other, kill the other. Thats when the nice men from Project Iliad came, and showed you how you could help shut down all

    deviation, once and for all.

  • Shadowfiends

    Shadowfiends are assassins for Pentex. They strike targets chosen by the

    company with no emotion or remorse. Difficult to find and extremely loyal,

    almost all Shadowfiends work within the limits of cities and towns,

    exterminating whichever threats to the corporation and to the Wyrm as a whole.

    Shadowfiends are physically dark enough that they must use their abilities to

    lighten their coloration to blend with the shadows in which they hunt. The

    fomori rely entirely on stealth and silence to complete their Pentex-given

    missions before slipping away as quietly as they came. Commonly, the only sign

    of a Shadowfiends work is the lack of a struggle and the look of complete surprise left on the victims face.

    Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 6, Stamina 3, Charisma 2, Manipulation 2,

    Appearance 1, Perception 4, Intelligence 2, Wits 4

    Abilities: Alertness 3, Athletics 4, Brawl 1, Firearms 2, Investigation 3, Melee

    4, Stealth 5, Subterfuge 3

    Backgrounds: Allies 2, Contacts 4, Resources 3

    Powers: Chameleon Coloration (Shadowwalking), Darksight, Immunity to the

    Delirium, Shadowplay, Silent Aura*

    * Silent Aura: Silent Aura creates an area of silence around the Shadowfiend. By

    rolling Wits + Stealth (difficulty 6), the Shadowfiend can negate all sound

    within a fifteen-foot radius. The whole area is entirely silent. The effect lasts for

    a one turn per success.

    Willpower: 6

    Equipment: GPS tracker; light pistol with silver bullets; silver knife

    Image: Shadowfiends appear as lithe humans, their features slightly elongated.

    The formors skin and eyes are pitch black, making them appear as human-shaped voids rather than actual living beings. Shadowfiends tend to shave all of

    their hair and work naked due to their natural camouflage.

    Genesis: A product of Project Iliad, all Shadowfiends are created using a special

    serum crafted by Pentex twisted scientsits. Specialists observe potential participants over the course of at least two months before sending invitations

    offering a large sum of money simply for attending a special seminar. People

  • who respond are treated to a formal dinner and stay in a hotel where the seminar

    is held.

    Pentex specialists filter through the attendees, watching them from cameras and

    listening to their conversations. By the end of the night, they decide who they

    want. Everyone will sleep well the following night from the time-release drug

    laced through the food at the dinner. Those chosen by Pentex are then injected

    with the serum that sends the victim into pain-laced nightmares for the

    remainder of the night. The serum opens the person up for possession, and, by

    the time morning comes, Pentex has created a monster.

    The full unification of the Bane and human takes place over the course of two

    days in which the skin of the victim turns stark black. Upon completion, the

    Shadowfiend is fully active and capable, ready to complete its first deadly

    mission.

    Roleplaying Notes: Pentex is everything. You live and breathe the will of the

    company, and you will do all you can to fulfill its requests. Youre not stupid, however. You take your time, analyze your targets, and when you strike, you do

    it quietly and without fanfare. Youre curt and only speak and do whats necessary. Your job is to exterminate the enemies of Pentex, and no one is better

    suited for the task.

  • Supernatural Fomori

    Vampires

    Bloodworms

    Each vampire wages an eternal battle to hold onto some shreds of the person she

    used to be, lest she become nothing but a mindless animal howling for blood.

    However, in order to maintain that control, the vampire must do terrible things

    to appease her cursed nature, things corrosive to maintaining her soul. Its a poignant and complex struggle, which plays out over a span of centuries or even

    longer. Or, it ends quickly and prematurely when a Bane known as a Thirster

    manages to slip into a vampires soul during frenzy. Its an excellent partnership at first. The vampire grows more resilient, and her blood seems more powerfuland potent. But her self-control starts eroding soon

    after, and it becomes much easier for the scent of blood to send her into a killing

    frenzy. The Bane eats another piece of whats left of the vampires soul, until theres nothing left but a creeping, blood-thirsty corpse. Thats when the real renovations begin. Unlike a normal vampire lost to the Beast, theres still something controlling a Bloodworm the Bane. A Bloodworm is a cunning, canny predator, using its mutated body and its

    vampiric Disciplines to seek out the blood of Gaias defenders.

    Powers: Blood Gorge*, Corpse Hide*

    After losing all Humanity: Darksight, Rat Head, Slobbersnot, Wall

    Walking.

    * Blood Gorge: This power doubles the size of a vampires Blood Pool, but causes her to fail all hunger frenzy rolls, and to automatically fail any Humanity

    rolls she makes.

    * Corpse Hide: Corpse Hide allows the vampire to soak damage at a difficulty

    two lower than normal.

  • Image: At first, the vampire seems no different than she did before possession.

    Once the Bane finishes eating her soul, the vampires body undergoes radical alteration. Her fangs disappear as the Bane repurposes her tongue into a far more

    effective blood-drinking tool in the form of a three-foot long, jointed siphon

    ending in a deadly sharp needle, which folds up in the throat when not in use.

    The vampires skin turns deep red, and glistens with a thin layer of bloody lubrication. Her limbs wither into corpselike sticks, after about six months they

    fall off entirely.

    The vampires torso elongates into a fleshy sack designed to store blood, while her pupils grow to take up almost the entirety of her eyes. Muscular, rasp-like

    bands line the underside of the torso, allowing the vampire to move with

    terrifying speed through muscular contraction, and even to ooze up walls and

    across ceilings.

    Roleplaying Notes: Youre an ambush predator, and dont have any worries in the world to distract you from the hunt for blood. The blood is everything, and

    when youre warm and sloshing full of it, youre content to hide and digest. Its perfect. You cant remember why you wanted to fight this.

    Draugr

    Draugr are among the rarest fomori in the world, and this is a very fortunate

    thing. Althought Rot Walker Banes normally only possess the dead, and have

    little interest in vampires. When such a Bane does turn its attention to a vampire,

    it normally lacks the strength to adapt its normal form of possession from the

    dead to the undead.

    Possession by a Rot Walker erases some of the vampires distinguishing characteristics. On the plus side, it no longer needs to sleep more than a couple

    of hours during the day, and sunlight inflicts bashing rather than aggravated

    damage. Less welcome are the fact that its fangs shorten and dull (inflicting

    lethal rather than aggravated damage), and its bite no longer inflicts a hypnotic

    euphoria, it just hurts. Nor can the vampire close its own bite wounds. Given

    that most vampires bite right into a major artery and then seal the wound, a

    Draugr leaves its victims bleeding out. What makes the Draugr so dangerous

    though comes after a victim dies of its bite. They get back up.

    A Draugr victim isnt a vampire, though its vampire-like. Twelve hours after death, the corpse reanimates with most of its mind and personality intact, driven

    by a strange homing instinct to seek out the Draugr. Though the homing instinct

    remains, everything else fades quickly. The victims psyche breaks down in less than six hours, rendering the corpse no smarter than a dog, though it can and

    will follow simple instructions from its maker. The corpse becomes violent

  • when something gets in the way of finding its creator. Twelve hours after

    reanimation, the corpse develops fangs like the Draugrs, and it seeks out blood if left unattended. The corpse avoids sunlight at this point, though it will be

    another 24 hours before sunlight actually harms it in the same way it does the

    Draugr. A Draugr-thrall never develops Disciplines, and cant use the Blood Points it consumes for any purpose other than to keep itself animate for another

    day, a requirement that begins three days after reanimation.

    The thrall can be destroyed by filling its health track with lethal damage; it

    doesnt experience torpor.

    Powers: The Rising. Anyone killed by the fomors bite rises as a corpse-servant, as detailed above.

    Image: The Draugr looks a little more dead than other vampires do. His

    complexion is waxy and ashen, his eyes dull, his mouth and hands dry. His eyes

    become dull and corpselike. His thralls look like exactly what they are:

    ambulatory, hungry cadavers, which look more and more gruesome as they

    collect incidental wear and tear, which the blood they consume cannot heal.

    They give urgent moans upon scenting fresh blood.

    Roleplaying Notes: Youre not sure why this is happening its hard to feed, now, and when you kill someone, they come back. You dont have to sleep so much during the day, which at least gives you time to watch over your growing

    collection of corpse-servants and to think about what to do with them. You

    know youve become a Masquerade breach waiting to happen, but at this rate, youre going to have enough loyal muscle to get even with all the other vampires in the city before they start calling for your head. Maybe this could be

    your ticket to becoming Prince.

    Werewolves

    Howling Shamblers

    One particular sort of Bane, known as a Howling Insanity, specializes in

    possessing Garou. The sheer spiritual poison of the Bane bonded to the Garous soul rots the werewolfs mind and body from the inside out. Derangements blossom soon after possession, even as regeneration-resistant cancers unfurl

    inside the werewolfs body. The need to howl becomes a compulsion, and the werewolfs cry echoes with the voice of the Wyrm. Few Howling Shamblers manage to live more than six months, and there is only the beginning of the

    horror.

  • Powers: Howling (as Roar of the Wyrm), Shambling*.

    * Shambling: When a Howling Shambler dies, it gets up one turn later and

    finishes whatever it was doing making dinner, fighting a Pentex First Team, whatever. Once that task is accomplished, the Howling Shambler goes ambling

    off to find, kill, and eat anything with werewolf blood in

    it. The reanimated Shambler is nearly unstoppable. Its chopped off limbs keep

    crawling or rolling along with the rest of the body. Only burning, melting, or

    smashing it into a raw pulp of meat and gristle will stop it (in game terms, the

    thing must be killed with fire or acid, or have its health track filled with

    aggravated damage twice over; even then, the parts keep twitching and flopping

    until theyre burned).

    Image: A living Howling Shambler tends to look like a crazy homeless person:

    shaking, filthy, mumbling to himself, and bursting out with periodic howls as

    the tumors and other diseases eat away at his mind. In Crinos, the Shamblers fur is mangy and falling out, and his body is covered in weeping sores. After

    reanimation, the fomor looks like a shuffling, hungry corpse, rotting as it

    shambles toward its next meal.

    Roleplaying Notes: Youre so confused nowa few months ago, you were strong and proud, but now

    everything seems to be going wrong. Its AROOO! its hard to concentrate, and you itch and ache all the time. Sometimes your thoughts dont line up so well. Sometimes you want to do awful things, like something was

    whispering in your ear. AROOO! But the wolfs still alive and well in you, and it wants to hunt and howl.

    Banes

    Abliphet

    These city-dwelling Banes appear to be a hideous fusion of Weaver and

    Wyrmish forces. They make their lairs atop tall buildings designed for human

    habitation: apartment blocks, tenements, and even the occasional run-down hotel

    are the normal hunting grounds of Abliphets. They extend spiritual tendrils

    down through the hidden ducts and vents of the building and slowly turn the

    building theyve chosen as their prey into a hotbox of tension, despair, and rage. No one in such a cursed building can keep a dark secret to himself; no one can

  • keep their mind off the failings of their neighbors; but equally, none can bring

    themselves to take the buildings problems outside of its borders. Once the building has collapsed into a spiritual Wound or self-destructs in an orgy of

    domestic violence, murder, or arson, the Abliphet moves on to find new prey.

    Rage 9, Gnosis 9, Willpower 6, Essence 25-35

    Charms: Airt Sense, Blighted Touch, Control Electrical Systems, Domain

    Sense, Everybodys Secret*, Illuminate, Shatter Glass, Short Out

    *Everybodys Secret: This Charm is similar to the Shadow Lord Gift: Whisper Catching, save that it en-compasses every secret event or exchange to occur

    within a building. The echoes of domestic violence, perversion, and hate slowly

    work their way through the buildings ducts and corridors. Eventually, everyone who lives in the building knows the secrets of everyone else: perhaps they drift

    under a door, or through an air conditioning vent, or rattle about in an old

    elevator as it carries tenants up through the buildings black throat. Speaking of the secrets of a building learned through Everybodys Secret is extremely difficult, requiring a point of Willpower and a Willpower roll (difficulty 9);

    failure causes the desired words to die in the tenants throat, and a certainty to fall down around him that its just not the business of anyone from outside the building.

    Image: An Abliphet is a massive Bane: A huge, jellylike, white-and-purple

    thing squatting at the top of

    a building. If possible, Abliphets lair in attics or storage spaces, but in a pinch

    they will squat on the roof, open to the elements. Most of the Banes substance takes the form of long, pulsing veins, bladders, and tubes dangling down

    through the substance of the building. They choke its Umbral ducts and pipes

    writhe invisibly along the walls of its elevator shafts. It is through these pipes

    and arteries that it conducts the buildings dirty secrets after processing them in its main body.

    Background: No one is quite sure where Abliphets come from, but theyre among the most destructive Banes of the modern urban environment. The

    Hakken of Japan are well-acquainted with these horrors, where they exist in

    unparalleled numbers, finding the nations ant-hive overcrowding much to their liking.

    Storytelling Notes: Abliphets are good for running the Werewolf equivalent of

    a haunted house story, or a combat raid. Finding out about the Banes presence is only the beginning of a packs troubles; running the gauntlet of the things environment-manipulating Charms to actually reach it is a job in itself. In worst-

  • case scenarios, an Abliphet may act as a central misery-focus to attract lesser

    Banes, and a pack may find itself stumbling into a run-down tenement full of

    spiritual shock troops and

    even some fomori.

    Crimson Pestilent

    Crimson Pestilents are Banes of sickness, parasites, disease, and dysfunction.

    Their deepest delight is to witness flesh in revolt against itself, and so they

    congregate where humans breathe in toxic chemicals, re-use needles, drink from

    parasite- or mercury-tainted waters, and drink irradiated water. They revel in

    sudden flare-ups of Ebola and evangelize cancers. Moreover, when they find a

    human afflicted with the marks of the Wyrm, one whose flesh is sick and

    fighting against itself, they set the terrible red tendrils of their power upon that

    person, and empower the sickness.

    Rage 6, Gnosis 3, Willpower 8, Essence 17

    Charms: Airt Sense, Awaken the Blight*, Blighted Touch, Materialize, Swift

    Flight

    * Awaken the Blight: A Crimson Pestilent may spend two Essence to use this

    Charm on a person af- flicted with some manner of disease. The Bane makes a

    contested roll of its Rage against the targets Stamina; if the Bane wins, whatever ailment the target suffers from flares up, and their next roll to resist or

    recover from the effects of the ailment suffers a penalty equal to the Banes Gnosis. A fever might spike to life-threatening temperatures, while a cancer

    metastasizes and spreads like wildfire throughout the body.

    Image: Crimson Pestilents appear as winding red fogs from a distance; upon

    closer inspection, one sees them as composed of millions of hair-fine blood

    vessels, all twisting and writhing around one another.

  • Background: Crimson Pestilents are a new menace, first sighted in the 1960s.

    They were extremely rare until the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, when their

    numbers swelled, now they fester throughout the world. Black Spiral Theurges

    believe they are the breath of the Wyrm, exhaled into the world.

    Storytelling Notes: Crimson Pestilents are particularly loathsome Banes,

    striking as they do at the weak and the wounded. Theyre best used as a reminder that the Garou must remain vigilant, and that in the final days, even a

    hospital or medicine lodge may be part of the battlefield.

    Harpies

    Silent stalkers of human and Garou alike, Harpies circle the sky, scanning for

    any sign of dissension and jealousy upon which to feed. Unhealthy rivalries

    soaked with envy attract the Banes, who then find an adequate place up high and

    out of sight in which to build their nests. From their vantage points, they spy on

    the goings on about them, leaving their nests to steal small items of value . The

    trinkets end up back in their nests, where the spirits wait for opportune moments

    to place them in strategic locations to implicate others in the theft, sowing

    distrust in even close relationships.

    Rage 5, Gnosis 7, Willpower 10, Essence 22

    Charms: Incite Rage, Innocuous*, Materialize, Peek

    * Innocuous: Harpies excel at hiding in plain sight. By spending one point of

    Essence, witnesses overlook a Harpy and its nest. This Charm doesnt make the Bane or its taint invisible, but rather keeps anyone from noticing it. Only those

    specifically looking for something out of place will have a chance of seeing the

    spirit, and even then an observer must succeed at a Willpower roll (difficulty 9)

    to overcome the effects of the charm. The effect lasts for one scene.

    Image: Harpies appear as falcons with mangy green feathers that never sit flat.

    Thick overgrown talons clasp at their perches as they constantly shift, never

    quite able to hold their balance. A Harpys eyes glow brilliant toxic green in the darkness, shining with malicious intelligence. Their nests are crafted from

    branches and leaves of nearby foliage, gnawed from still living limbs. The bark

    twists and withers from the agony of its final moments of life, looping in with

    other dead branches to create a woven wall. Such nests hide various tokens of

    import that the Harpy has stolen; letters, thumbdrives, talens, and the occasional

    fetish have all found their way into a Harpys talons.

  • Background: Carved from the essence of captured Falcon spirits, Harpies are

    terrors for Garou to behold, especially the Silver Fangs. Harpies prefer to nest

    high in the Umbra above septs or on the top of office buildings where they

    watch for victims. The birds steal whatever they can from the Garou, taking

    utmost caution when doing so. They then place the valuables with others,

    inciting blame for theft. When tempers start to flare within the sept, the Harpy

    waits for an opportune moment to throw as much of the sept into chaos as it can.

    The Bane is fond of turning Garou against their elders, and its favorite targets

    are the strict hierarchies of the Shadow Lords and Silver Fangs.

    Storytelling Notes: Harpies target any sept that has dissension boiling within its

    boundaries. Items go missing, Garou blame one another, and Harpies are patient

    enough that the descent into chaos can take weeks or even months. If a pack has

    been doing particularly well and is basking in its success, a Harpy might start

    turning others in the sept against them, especially the younger packs. A

    packmate could find himself framed for numerous thefts, leaving it up to his

    fellows to clear his name and find the true thief.

    Nihilach

    The Nihilach, blessedly rare, figure prominently in the tales of modern Garou.

    Pessimists hold that these Banes are spirits of the Apocalypse itself, manifesting

    to pave the way for the coming of the Wyrm. Others hold that they are the talon-

    tips of the Corrupter, gaining its first all-destroying hold upon Gaia directly. The

    Silent Striders know the truth, but do not speak it. It is no better than the rumors.

    Nihilach appear at portentous moments in the war against Gaia, usually

    moments when a significant piece of the Mother is about to die. First, they stand

    and watch, impassively surveying the course of events; and then they move in to

    fight. That is the only mercy of the Nihilach that they eventually condescend to do battle with Gaias warriors. These great Banes are terrible, all-consuming forces in battle, and many brave Garou cannot even muster the strength to raise

    a claw against them.

    Nevertheless, those that do fight discover that the Nihilach are not invincible. In

    that fact alone, the Garou strive to find hope.

    Rage 10, Gnosis 4, Willpower 9, Essence 30-50

    Charms: Airt Sense, Armor, Blast, Blighted Touch*, Materialize, Re-Form,

    Yawning Void*

    * Blighted Touch: The Nihilachs version of Blighted Touch is different from that of other Banes. Rather than bringing the worst elements of the targets

  • nature to the fore, this Charm instead induces a deadening lassitude and

    crippling depression. Effort seems futile, dreams unattainable,

    and the world a sick and pointless joke at best, a gauntlet of needless indignities

    as prelude to meaningless nothingness at worst. A botch attempting to resist this

    Charm is capable of sending a Garou spiraling directly into Harano.

    * Yawning Void: This Charm stands as the most fearsome of the Nihilachs powers. It activates reflexively by paying one Essence whenever something dies

    in the Nihilachs presence, be it a discorporate spirit or a murdered Garou, and the death need not be at the Nihilachs hands. The billowing emptiness of the Nihilachs body unfolds into a sheer, sanity-scraping void that draws in the soul of the slain. Anything swallowed by the Yawning Void is gone forever.

    A Garou hero will not persist as an ancestor spirit, nor be returned to Gaias embrace and reincarnated. He, like anything else swallowed by this Charm, will

    simply cease to be.

    Image: Nihilach look like very little, in a way. Theyre null impressions on the world around them, a shadow that drinks light, understood as impressions rather

    than details. Theyre tall, standing higher than a Garou in Crinos, and when they act, there is the understanding of long, painfully thin limbs. Nothingness hangs

    about them like a shroud, and that shroud gives the impression of a wide,

    powerful body. A Nihilach cannot properly be said to have a face, but those

    looking where a face should be often glimpse impressions of those they have

    known in the past, individuals they associate with memories of loss and regret.

    Nihilach are silent, making no noise as they stand and watch, nor when they

    swoop in to attack.

    Background: The Silent Striders, with their greater understanding of the Dark

    Umbra, understand what the Nihilach are. Theyre Banes of Oblivion, the annihilation that waits beyond the hunger of the Wyrm, when the Destroyer has

    eaten even itself. That they are beginning to appear in the Umbra and upon the

    face of Gaia is the direst of many dark omens in these final days.

    Storytelling Notes: The presence of the Nihilach is an existential threat, a

    whispered promise that there will be no world beyond the Apocalypse, no

    recovery, no new age to rise from the ashes of the old. They challenge both the

    martial prowess and the convictions of the Garou, and best brought forth at the

    climax of a chronicle, to underline the import of whatever disaster the Garou

    fight to avert. To win a battle where a Nihilach took the field is to have

    definitively prevented Gaia from moving deeper into the final night from which

    there is return, and that is an act worthy of celebration.

    Nocturna

  • The Nocturna, also known as a Nighthag, is a defiler of hopes and dreams.

    These Banes wander the Umbra in search of particularly potent dreams or

    noteworthy dreamers. When theyve found an appropriate sleeping victim, they poison that individuals sleeping hours, twisting his dreams into visions of despair and distrust.

    A dream of success and wealth might suddenly become a nightmare of ruin and

    failure due to the betrayal of a loved one. The common refrain of these dreams is

    the downfall of the sleeper, always at the hands of a trusted friend, lover, spouse,

    parent, packmate, or other close ally.

    Rage 6, Gnosis 7, Willpower 5, Essence 18

    Charms: Airt Sense, Dream Warp*, Materialize, Peek

    * Dream Warp: The Nighthag spends one Essence to corrupt a dream with the

    intent of disturbing the sleeper and driving a wedge between her and one of her

    loved ones. The target does not regain Willpower from this troubled sleep.

    Image: Nighthags appear as beautiful women with long tangled hair, wickedly

    hooked claws, and a mouth full of pus.

    Background: The Garou believe Nocturnae to be tiny fragments of the

    nightmares of the Wyrm itself, shaken loose from its dark dreams to roam the

    Umbra. Nighthags tend to form a particular attachment to a single victim,

    revisiting him repeatedly until she destroys a relationship with one of her loved

    ones, egged on by mounting fatigue and paranoia. If a Nocturnas target steadfastly refuses to give in to the dire portents of her dreams, the Bane

    eventually grows frustrated; one night it will materialize and kill whichever

    loved one its victim seems most loathe to abandon, and then frames her for the

    crime.

    Storytelling Notes: While Nighthags present little direct threat to the Garou in a

    physical confrontation, they rarely bother with mere violence. Garou are a

    special prize for a Nocturna. A werewolf living outside the safety of a caern is a

    boiling cauldron of Rage and hair-trigger instinct at the best of times, and given

    to believing in dream-omens in a way most modern people arent. If the Garou themselves seem unlikely to fall fora Nighthags manipulations, then their Kinfolk make even more inviting targets.

    Raptor

  • Raptors are Banes that feed off of pain and lust not affection or simple sexual desire but a twisted and desperate need for dominance and conquest. Their targets of choice are those who view others as mere objects existing for their

    own gratification. The Bane whispers across the Gauntlet, urging humans to act

    on their desires, and enhancing them with an aura of falseconfidence and

    persuasiveness. The Raptor picks a particular human as its special project and doesnt let go, riding a wave of one-night stands, abusive relationships, and broken hearts to the Raptors desired conclusion: rape, depravity, and murder. It moves on once the host is a hollowed-out shell, leaving behind a shadow of a

    human being, something moving through a routine of abuse in the hopes of

    reigniting some feeling in the burnt-out cinder that used to be his soul.

    Rage 5, Gnosis 8, Willpower 6, Essence 19 (plus up to 10 more if the Bane has

    fed recently)

    Charms: Airt Sense, Corruption, Materialize, Sleaze Aura*

    * Sleaze Aura: The Bane can lend the effects of the Gift: Persuasion (see W20,

    p. 153) to anyone who goes along with the suggestions it whispers through

    Corruption, so long as they continue following those suggestions.

    Image: A Raptor looks like a great, fleshy flower atop an array of slim, well-

    toned legs of both genders.

    Background: This Bane feeds from the lusts of its host, the act of

    consummation, and then the pain of the hosts victims when he casts them aside; it needs all three in order to feed. The more profound the victims residual sense of use or violation, the more Essence the Raptor gains. A regular one-night-

    stand with someone as worn-down as the host himself is worth only a single

    point, while ruining someone elses life might be worth five all at once.

    Storytelling Notes: Once, Pentex tried to bond Raptors to various products,

    including cosmetics and colognes. The Raptors refused to cooperate, and now

    despise Pentex-created Enticers. A Raptor will go out of its way to guide its host

    into an Enticers path, with the intent of using and ruining the fomor, even killing it, if possible.

    Rot Walker

    While not the mightiest or cleverest of the Wyrms children, the Banes known as Rot Walkers are among the most disturbing. They are spirits of decay: not of

    death, but of the corruption that follows, not of endings, but of unresolved

    conclusions left to fester. They are the Wyrms promise for the future, a world

  • inescapable even in final dissolution: a world where there is no afterlife for

    valiant heroes, but only an eternity of shuffling footsteps and putrid meat.

    Rage 5, Gnosis 4, Willpower 7, Essence 16

    Charms: Airt Sense, Armor, Blighted Touch, Carrion Walk*, Lightning in the

    Meat*, Tracking

    * Carrion Walk: This Charm is similar to Possession, but can only be used upon

    a corpse. Any corpse will do: a dead Pentex employee, a road kill raccoon, a

    slaughtered steer, and on one horribly memorable occasion a freshly deceased elephant can all host a Rot Walker. The cadaver must still have some

    flesh on its frame (so no possessed dinosaur skeletons), and it cannot already be

    possessed or animated by other means (putting vampires off-limits).

    A corpse animated by Carrion Walk uses the traits it had when alive, rather than

    the controlling Banes spirit traits, but uses the Banes Essence instead of a health track.

    Carrion Walk puts a tremendous strain on the corpse being possessed; the

    necrotic energies of the Bane rapidly accelerate the process of decay, so that

    most possessed shells become flyblown horrors in short order. Few cadavers

    manage to last for more than a week before devolving into an immobile stew of

    bones and pulpy meat.

    * Lightning in the Meat: This Charm allows the Rot Walker to spend one

    Essence per day to re-animate the brain of a corpse possessed with Carrion

    Walk. There must be a brain present for this to work. While the bodys soul has long since moved on to whatever awaits beyond the veil of death, a residue of

    memories and personality still dwell in the wrinkles of the mind, and it is this

    shadow of the deceased that the Rot Walker resurrects, up until the body falls

    apart. The revived persona knows nothing of the possessing Bane, and may even

    believe itself alive at first. It is likely to try to head back to familiar

    surroundings, such as the house where its grieving family awaits. Some Rot

    Walkers resume control at this point; others prefer to simply let the lightning

    continue to drive the meat, watching the corpse and its loved ones go through

    the agony of decay, dissolution, and a second and final demise.

    Image: A Rot Walker in the Umbra looks like a collection of rotting corpse-

    parts from a variety of different animals, bound together with gut and sinew.

    One might be a crude centaur made of the rotting lower parts of a horse, topped

    by a decaying human torso and a half-flayed cattle skull; another could be a

    dead hound, creeping along on a multitude of mismatched and rotting arms and

    legs.

  • Background: The Silent Striders were the first tribe to encounter Rot Walkers.

    When they speak of these Banes at all, they say that they were once lesser spirits

    of death that watched over the moment when spirit and corpse separated.

    Curious, they listened at cracks between their domain and the Low Umbra of the

    dead; whatever whispers came through to them changed them forever, filling

    their eyes with darkness and their forms with decay. Now they are harbingers of

    the world beyond the Apocalypse, a soulless land of ugly, senseless destruction;

    and of meat silently rotting beneath a red and wounded sun.

    Storytelling Notes: Rot Walkers are opportunists, taking whatever corpse seems

    most interesting to them at any given moment, but they take especial joy in

    presenting the Garou with evidence of their handiwork. If a werewolf loses

    control and kills an innocent in the grip of Frenzy, a Rot Walker will ensure she

    meets her victim again, she may even go so far as to restore the victims control of the corpse, so she can ask the werewolf why she had to die. Rot Walkers also

    enjoy dragging dead Kinfolk out of their graves.

    Uktena Theurges have catalogued the existence of a similar, weaker Bane

    known as a Meat Puppet, which animates only the remains of the young, such as

    dead children and drowned kittens. Meat Puppets possess Carrion Walk, but not

    Lightning in the Meat.

    Rust Spider

    Rust Spiders arent really a single variety of Bane. Instead, theyre the catch-all name that both Garou and Black Spiral Dancers use to refer to those cases where

    the spirit-servants of the Weaver Pattern Spiders, Net Spiders, Chaos Monitors, and so on are corrupted by the vile essence of the Wyrm, yet retain their basic shape and function. Rust Spiders seem to serve two masters, rather

    than tumbling completely into the grasp of the Wyrm as most corrupted spirits

    do. That distinction is, in truth, what makes a Rust Spider a Rust Spider, rather

    than just an- other urban-conceptual Bane. A former Pattern Spider continues to

    weave according to the Weavers design. A former Net-Spider continues to herd data packets to and fro across the

    networks where it makes its lair. Corrupted guardian spirits, such as Hunter

    Spiders, show the greatest deviance in their behavior, for they always allow

    Wyrm-tainted spirits free passage, and never treat them as enemies.

    Rust Spiders keep the traits they had prior to their corruption.

    Charms: Rust Spiders continue to use the Charms they originally possessed as

    Weaver spirits. In addition, they gain Blighted Touch and Darkweaving*.

    * Darkweaving: This Charm more than anything else defines a Rust Spider.

    Darkweavings effects are

  • permanent, and stain the spirits every works with an indelible trace of Wyrm-taint. When a tainted Pattern Spider reinforces the Gauntlet, it weaves in blackly

    glistening, Wyrmish strands of spiritual effluvia, which Banes find it easier to

    pierce (1 to the local Gauntlet for Wyrm spirits only). When they work on the great Pattern Webs that span cities, the strands they weave act as efficient

    superhighways for Banes. When a Hunter Spider scans for enemies in need of

    destruction, they heed the distress cries of Banes and treat them as a summons of

    the Weaver. When a Net-Spider ushers data packets from place to place, it

    subtly taints them, imparting a negative tone to digital communications, or

    promoting data loss or corruption in vital transactions. The individual effect of

    this Charm upon any action is small, but the cumulative result is a spirit that

    remakes Gaia into the Wyrms image as efficiently and tirelessly as its brothers and sisters calcify the world into the Weavers design.

    Image: The average Rust Spider closely resembles a Pattern Spider, or whatever

    sort of spirit it was before its corruption. Indeed, from a distance it might even

    be mistaken for one. Upon closer inspection, the spirits altered nature is unmistakable; its shining body is corroded and pitted, while unwholesome

    organic growths replace formerly mechanical elements. The overall first

    impression is that the spirit has contracted some form of biomechanical cancer,

    and its movements bear this out.

    Theyre shuddering and jerky, lacking the elegant clockwork precision that is the usual hallmark of the Weaver.

    Background: Some Rust Spiders are naturally occurring, appearing at the peripheries of blights, Pits, and other badly Wyrm-tainted areas of the Umbra.

    More often, Black Spiral Dancers create Rust Spiders through the Gift: Claws of

    Corrosion (see p. 121). This is often part of establishing an urban Pit,

    transforming the citys spiritual antibodies into guardians and reinforcements for the spiritual power of the nascent Wyrm-caern. Because many Rust Spiders are

    non-aggressive if left alone, less-experienced Garou are sadly apt to overlook

    them, treating them almost as abackground detail. Only those canny in the ways

    of the Wyrm are likely to recognize dense concentrations of Rust Spiders as a

    likely sign that a Pit is somewhere nearby.

    Storytelling Notes: Rust Spiders work well as set pieces for urban stories,

    showing that the war for Gaia is bigger than a simple clash of Wyrm vs. Garou.

    Even the cold, terrible purity of the Weaver is a target for the Wyrms poisons as the Apocalypse looms. This is a particularly sobering threat for Glass Walker

    characters.

  • Shattered Harts

    Raging through once pristine Umbral landscapes, Shattered Harts find

    sustenance in agony and misery. They prefer to feed from the pain of Gaian

    spirits that have been subjected to the desecration of once sacred land. Insane

    and violent, the Harts roam their hunting grounds, attacking anything that would

    end the misery in which they bask. When there arent any adequate victims, a Shattered Hart spends its time inflicting further injury on the weaker Banes and

    creatures in the area.

    Rage 10, Gnosis 8, Willpower 6, Essence 24

    Charms: Armor, Materialize, Smoke*, Tracking

    * Smoke: By spending a point of Essence, a Shattered Hart can snort out a cloud

    of sulfurous smoke that shrouds the Bane in darkness. Increase the difficulty of

    all rolls to hit the bane by one, or two for Garou in Lupus form due to the stench.

    The Shattered Hart can see clearly through the smoke and suffers no penalties.

  • Image: A Shattered Hart resembles a stag spirit with an over-exaggerated

    muscle structure similar to a bulls. Its hide is oil-slicked and reflects all light in a sickly yellow hue, regardless of the source. Stark white eyes gleam from under

    antlers that twist in a tight gnarl over its head; these overgrown antlers are

    covered in inch-long thorns.

    Wisps of smoke curl from the banes nostrils. They have no permanent places of rest, but wander their territory endlessly, always on the hunt for intruders.

    Background: When the Wyrms minions capture a Stag spirit and carve out its Gaian essence, they create a Shattered Hart. With only emptiness inside, the

    spirits seek to fulfill themselves by wreaking the agony they faced back upon the

    world. Shattered Harts haunt Blights and Hellholes that exist in the wilderness.

    They feel at home anywhere Pentex has leveled forests or started a fracking

    operation. Rarely materializing, the banes stalk the Umbra, attacking anyone or

    anything it perceives as a threat to it or its territory. Only when they detect an

    overwhelming threat in the physical world will the spirit materialize to attack it.

    A Shattered Hart will lash out at any Garou, including the Black Spiral Dancers.

    Storytelling Notes: Shattered Harts work well to add a new level of horror to

    Hellholes and Blights. All

    Garou go into such places knowing theyre going to face banes, but not necessarily banes crafted from Gaian spirits they revere. Black Spiral Dancers

    take delight in taunting Shattered Harts and leading them to packs or septs with

    large numbers of Fianna.

    Thinbone

    The Banes known as Thinbones are insatiable spirits of hunger, born in places of

    terrible famine. Unlike many conceptual Banes, Thinbones dont hang around the places of their creation, but instead seek out places of richness and opulence

    lands of plenty. It is here that they hunt, using humans to feed their own insatiable appetites and to amuse their bizarre whims. Thinbones are at least

    easy for the Garou to spot once they arrive in an area, as their victims deaths are usually strange

    enough to make local headlines.

    Rage 7, Gnosis 7, Willpower 5, Essence 19 (up to 25 if possessing a host)

    Charms: Airt Sense, Corruption, Materialize, Possession*, Tracking

    * Possession: A Thinbones Possession Charm is different from that of other Banes. Thinbones are incapable of creating fomori through permanent

  • possession, or of directly controlling the host. Instead, a possessing Thinbone

    consumes everything the host eats before it can nourish him. Once the host

    begins starving, the Thinbone uses its Corruption Charm to whisper suggested

    meals that might sate the host; each time the host partakes of such a meal, the

    Thinbone gains one point of Essence.

    Soon after, the gnawing hunger returns and the hosts starvation continues. Thinbones never suggest ordinary food to their unlucky host; instead, they

    recommend the host consume something he values. A devout Christian might be

    compelled to tear out the pages of his Bible and eat them, one by one, while a

    fashionista sits down and methodically eats every outfit and shoe in her closet.

    The strongest of Thinbones turn their hosts against loved ones, starving the

    possessed individual into a cannibal feast. Once the host starves to death, the

    Thinbone departs to begin the cycle anew.

    Image: Thinbones look like tall, genderless, emaciated humans with elongated

    features dominated by an eternally gaping mouth. Their long, thin bones

    protrude through their flesh in places, whittled down to sharp points.

    Background: Once uncommon, Thinbones have proliferated in the second half

    of the twentieth century. This puzzles many Garou, for famine has always been

    a great scourge of humanity. There seems no obvious reason for the sudden

    increase in this Banes numbers. Thinbones lust after the incredible power of caerns, but have no means of consuming them. They will target off-duty caern

    guardians if at all possible.

    Storytelling Notes: As solo Banes, Thinbones present little physical threat to a

    mighty werewolf; instead, they are opportunities for the Garou to act as heroes,

    saving the unfortunates that Thinbones possess from a terrible, demeaning,

    prolonged death. On the other hand, Thinbones tend to target those in positions

    of privilege and plenty; certain Garou (such as Bone Gnawers and Red Talons)

    may not want to help the spirits victims.

    Spawn of the Wyrm

    If Banes and their twisted flesh-puppets were the Wyrms only creations, the work of the Garou would be much more straightforward, if no less daunting.

    How- ever, the Wyrms polluted loins are fecund indeed, and multitudes of horrors walk the Earth, stamped by its taint. Some of these are twisted things the

  • Wyrm has spawned upon the face of Gaia; its servants at Pentex made others.

    Each is a threat unto itself.

    Heart Eaters

    The monstrosities known as Heart Eaters are an old, old work of the Wyrm: rare,

    subtle, and insidious. Theyre strange things, neither Banes nor fomori nor the product of any other Wyrmish artifice of which the Garou are aware. They seem

    to exist only to reap a harvest of death and betrayal, and to worship the Maeljin

    known as Empress Aliara.

    Heart Eaters are soft-bodied, writhing, flexible things. No creature of Gaia could

    feel anything save revulsion for a Heart Eater. However, the Heart Eaters

    understand the emotions and relationships of others all too well. Possessed of an

    uncanny empathy and a genius for relationship dynamics, Heart Eaters find it

    easy to sniff out deep bonds between others. When they find a particularly deep

    or vital bond, they go to work.

    Heart-Eaters are a sort of skin-walker, eating an individuals heart and brain to absorb their identity. They then wear the skin of their victim and masquerade as

    them, the better to get close to the victims paramour.

    Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2, Charisma 5, Manipulation 5,

    Appearance 0 (uses host-skins Appearance), Perception 4, Intelligence 3, Wits 4

    Abilities: Alertness 3, Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Empathy 5, Expression 4,

    Performance 5, Subterfuge 5

    Rage 5, Gnosis 8, Willpower 7

    Health Levels: OK, 1, 1, 2, 2, 5, Incapacitated.

    Attacks: Strength +3 bite (lethal), Strength tentacle attack (bashing, out to 10

    feet), Strength +1 sting (lethal, see below)

    Powers: Body Barbs, Clean Scent*, Empathy*, Extra Limbs, Sting*

    * Clean Scent: The Heart Eater may spend one Gnosis point per scene to hide its

    Wyrm-taint from detection.

    * Empathy: With a Wits + Empathy roll (difficulty 5) the Heart Eater can

    discern not only whom an individual loves passionately, but if the object of the

    targets desire feels the same way. By consuming an individuals heart and brain

  • and spending two Gnosis points, the Heart Eater can perfectly impersonate the

    victim. They instinctively mimic the victims personality, mannerisms, and even habits, and have access to the victims memories. This access is instinctive rather than deliberate, however. The Heart Eater cant rifle around in the victims memories selectively. Instead, memories arise and present themselves as necessary for the Heart Eater to maintain its masquerade.

    * Sting: The Heart Eater can inject a paralytic toxin into its victim through the

    tips of its tentacles. Unless the target makes a Stamina roll against difficulty 9,

    they will be rendered unable to move for the rest of the scene. Injecting a dose

    of toxin costs one point of Rage.

    Image: When a Heart Eater emerges from a stolen skin, it is a hideously

    malformed thing that only fits the description of human by a great act of generosity. The monster is mottled mold-green and maggot-white, its body

    plump, segmented, flexible, with collapsible flesh, and many-jointed limbs. Its

    face consists of two perfectly human eyes, which can change colors at a whim,

    set in the midst of puffy flesh and a great, sharp-fanged, lipless maw. Two long,

    stinger-tipped tentacles extend from the flesh of the things lower back; it wraps them around itself when sliding into a skin. The monster is able to compress its

    body radically, so that it always fits into any flayed skin it has stolen, and the

    hideous secretions that coat its flesh are able to preserve a stolen skin almost

    indefinitely.

    Storytelling Notes: Heart Eaters are willing to play the long game when

    wearing a loved ones skin. Theyre cowardly things, more interested in destroying hearts and shattering sanity than in simple murder. As a result, they

    often leave the paramours of their victims alive after paralyzing them,

    disrobing in front of a horrified captive audience. The greatest of Heart-Eaters may stalk a preferred target throughout his life, returning to check on him every

    few years, waiting patiently for him to fall in love again, and then repeating their

    masquerade.

    Supernatural beings, already alienated from the rest of the world, are particularly

    tempting targets. Heart Eaters are mostly solo operators, seeming to reserve their

    Wyrmish devotion exclusively for Empress Aliara, but will work occasionally

    with other Wyrm-horrors or even Black Spiral Dancers if they can be convinced

    that their allies are also true servants of Aliara. Heart Eaters are especially

    dangerous when working alongside others, restraining their natural impulses in

    order to act as long-term deep-cover spies within Kinfolk families or even septs

    of the Garou.

  • Thunderwyrms

    Vast and deformed children of the atomic age, Thunderwyrms are among the

    more recent Wyrm-birthed monstrosities, and among the largest. Massive, pale,

    bloated terrors, Thunderwyrms live only to consume and grow. They sleep deep

    beneath the ground for many years before the need to feed drives them to the

    surface in an orgy of destruction: trees, cars, livestock, a Thunderwyrm can

    digest almost anything, but only living things truly satisfy the monsters massive appetite.

    Attributes: Strength 8, Dexterity 4, Stamina 8, Charisma 0, Manipulation 0,

    Appearance 0, Perception 3, Intelligence 1, Wits 2

    Note: The Attributes listed above reflect the statistics for an average (30-foot)

    Thunderwyrm. Strength and Stamina increase substantially the larger the

    creatures grow, and there appears to be no upper limit on how much they can

    grow. Grandmother Thunderwyrm is allegedly strong enough to shatter concrete

    by rippling her skin.

    Abilities: Athletics 5 (cannot dodge), Brawl 5

    Rage 6, Willpower 5

    Health Levels: OK, OK, OK, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, Incapacitated

    Attacks: Bite (Strength lethal), Roll (Strength bashing more than 3 successes indicates the target

    is pinned under the creatures bulk), Body Slam (Strength + 3 bashing)

    Powers: Armor (four extra soak dice), Burrow (as the Garou Gift, but with no

    cost)

    Image: Thunderwyrms range in size from merely huge to unspeakably gigantic.

    The most commonly encountered normally stretch 30 feet in length, and almost

    eight feet wide. The largest, and presumably oldest, is Grandmother

    Thunderwyrm: she spans the length of two football fields and is almost three

    hundred feet around. Rumor has it that she contains an entire Wyrm caern in

    her gut. The smallest Thunderwyrm yet seen presum- ably newly hatched was only the length of a man.

    These pillars of pale grey flesh constantly secrete a thick, mucus-like substance

    to speed their way through the earth. They move through muscular contractions,

    and by eating everything ahead of them and defecating the earth out as they

  • pass, leaving little trace of their presence. Thunderwyrms resemble earthworms

    with enormous mouths filled with row upon row of jagged teeth. Some are

    aquatic and develop rubbery black hides more like a leech.

    Background: According to the Uktena, the first Thunderwyrms were born from

    the radioactive soil at the Trinity nuclear test site. Reports of Thunderwyrm

    attacks are rising in frequency. A new generation of the things appears to have

    recently hatched, and Thunderwyrms are born hungry.

    Storytelling Notes: Encounters with Thunderwyrms are rare, and generally in

    rural areas. Many Thunderwyrms follow trends in their attack patterns: only

    coming out during storms, for example, or repeatedly stalking favored locations.

    The marks they leave on the ground strongly resemble the patterns left by

    tornadoes. While their digestion-trails are badly Wyrm-tainted, they leave no

    chemical digestive residue in the soil for scientists to examine.

    Thunderwyrms are perfect for stories where something is beginning to terrorize a small farming community, or isolated desert town. If the Garou dont step in, a hungry Thunderwyrm or its newly hatched brood might devour the entire settlement.

    Skull Pigs

    The Skull Pigs are twisted horrors, the only surviving trace of the once powerful

    Grondr. Once charged with cleansing Gaia, the wereboars fallen descendants became their opposite. Skull Pigs attempt to befoul or devour everything they

    touch. They eat carrion and draw sinister strength from the flesh of the dead,

    though they can subsist on almost anything: including garbage, toxic waste, or

    even radioactive corpses. Skull Pigs dig through graveyards seeking human

    bones, devouring them to regain their Rage. When they eat bones of Wyrm-

    creatures, the Pigs gain a malevolent cunning that makes them all the more

    dangerous. The Skull Pigs can smell such tainted remains, and devouring such a

    feast raises a Skull Pigs intelligence within only a few minutes.

    Attributes: Strength 7, Dexterity 4, Stamina 8, Charisma 0, Manipulation 0 (2-

    4), Appearance 0, Perception 2, Intelligence 1 (2-5), Wits 3

    Abilities: Alertness 2, Athletics 5, Brawl 5, Intimidation 4, Primal-Urge 3,

    Stealth 2, Survival 4

    Powers: Regeneration (as Garou)

    Rage 5, Willpower 3

  • Health Levels: OK, OK, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 5, Incapacitated

    Attacks: Body Slam, Tusks (Strength +3) Each meal of Wyrm-tainted bones

    increases the Skull Pigs Intelligence by 1, to a maximum of 5. These increases last for one year. Eating the bodies of especially powerful fomori, or devouring

    large numbers of them at once, makes these increases permanent. An intelligent

    Skull Pig learns at least one Black Spiral Dancer Gift per dot in Intelligence.

    Because of their toxic diet and innate corruption, the flesh of a Skull Pig is

    poisonous; any creature biting one suffers a point lethal damage per turn for the

    next six turns (see Poisons and Drugs, W20 pp. 258-259).

    Image: Skull Pigs resemble huge, somewhat emaciated wild boars that stand six

    feet at the shoulder and are almost seven feet long. Their bristles are coarse and

    malformed and they stink of grave-rot. The deathly pale flesh covering their

    skulls is so thin, and the bone structure so distinctive, that its easy to get the impression that they have no flesh to their heads at all. Despite their deathlike

    appearance, they obviously possess a wiry strength. Unlike many of the Wyrms creatures, Skull Pigs do not have obvious sores or deformities like withered

    limbs. Corrupted so long ago, the Skull Pigs have fully adapted to the Wyrms foul energies. They have lost the ability to change shape, and are born and grow

    up as nothing more than clever animals. They must devour flesh poisoned by the

    Wyrm to regain the intelligence once common to all of their ancestors.

    Background: All of the Changing Breeds know that the War of Rage brought

    about the Grondrs extermination. So enraged were the members of one of the last Sounders (packs) of Grondr, by the Garous slaughter of their Breed that their lust for vengeance and their hatred of the Garou attracted the attention of

    Lord Steel, the Maeljin Incarna of hatred. He offered these Grondr the chance to

    survive the werewolves onslaught and for them and their descendants to strike back against their enemies. The wereboars accepted this foul deal and they and

    their descendants became agents of the Wyrm.

    Today, Skull Pigs roam in packs of three to seven. Often family groups, packs

    drive off young or elderly males, who form their own especially violent and

    predatory packs. Ordinary Skull Pigs have an evil cunning, but are only slightly

    more intelligent than gorillas or chimpanzees. However, if they are able to feed

    on the bones of a crea- ture tainted by the Wyrm, they become fully intelligent

    and more actively malevolent. Intelligent Skull Pigs can be almost as dangerous

    as Black Spiral Dancers, but still lack the ability to change shape.

    Storytelling Notes: Even the unintelligent Skull Pigs will attack Garou, though

    they ignore humans who are not obviously easy prey. Most humans either do not

    remember seeing a Skull Pig, or believe that they have seen a normal, if often

  • terrifying wild boar or feral pig. They inflict Delirium the same as seeing a

    Garous Crinos form. Ordinary Skull Pigs have keen senses and are skilled and ever-hungry pack

    hunters. They can smell weakness, and make a special effort to prey upon the

    weak. Intelligent Skull Pigs revel in tainting the land and corrupting or killing

    other Changing Breeds, especially the Garou.

    Despite now being creatures of the Wyrm, intelligent Skull Pigs retain a faint

    racial memory of the destruction of their kind at the hands of the Garou.

    In addition to becoming intelligent, Skull Pigs who devour Wyrm-tainted

    remains also gain the ability to imitate perfectly sounds and voices. They use

    this ability to trick humans and members of the Changing Breeds into thinking

    that an ally or comrade is calling for help. The pigs then lie in ambush when

    their victim comes to help. Skull Pigs can use their hooves to dig tunnels, and

    the intelligent members of their Breed occasionally construct large warrens to

    act as traps. They collapse these tunnels upon enemies who enter attempting to

    slay the Skull Pigs.

    Fomarchs

  • Icomammus

    The fomarch Icomammus is a horse-sized, wraith-like being that seems to hover

    over the ground. Unlike other fomarchs, extreme physical violence isnt its strength. The threat of Icomammus comes from within. The monsters body is a semi-translucent shell of deceptive hardness, with the general shape and

    bioluminescent appearance of a jellyfish, down to the hundreds of whip like

    stingers that dangle from its body. As the ghostly fomarch drifts in the wind, the

    cloudy liquids floating within its body clear, and a gray, human-sized fetus

    suspended within, lacking a nose or mouth. Its enormous jet-black eyes

    sometimes cut through the liquor amnii to peer out. Those who catch its gaze

    can feel Icomammus rifling through their thoughts and memories.

    In addition to this telepathic probe, Icomammus supports itself by psychic

    projection, though its telekinetic gifts do not extend beyond self-propulsion. The

    rest of its vast psychic powers depend entirely on the delivery of a toxic sting

    from one of its many tentacles.

    After injecting a target with the psychoactive venom of Icomammus, the fiend

    may project illusions intense enough that they become like reality, to the point

    of doing extreme psychosomatic damage to victims.

    Temenathus the Great

    The fomarch called Temenathus was adapted from a failed NDL project

    attempting to recreate the extinct Camazotz using a genetic werewolf-fomor

    hybrid and the spirit of a bat. The charnel beast that resulted was not a proper

    shapeshifter, but rather a man-bat horror whose slavering, unhinged jaw, and

    incessant screaming made it one of the most terrifying fomarchs produced by

    Pentex. Temenathus is a hulking beast with arms that drag the ground, trailing

    the leathery membranes and long bony fingers of a bats wings. Its wings dont allow flight, but they do support enough of its considerable weight to allow it to

    glide. With its coal-gray, wolf-like fur, the beast is rather adept at blending into

    shadows, getting the moon at its back and then descending down on its victims.

    Temenathus screams when it moves, its shrieking echoes creating a sonic

    reference point for its auditory senses. When it fights, it primarily uses the long,

    disease- infested claws at the ends of its human-like hands to slash victims,

    using its giant unhinging jaw full of bristling needle sharp teeth to rip the flesh

    from corpses. In addition to its tremendous speed and strength, that rivals some

    Crinos Garou, Temenathuss salivary glands can release acid when it bites, allowing it to deliver a festering, and mortal wound. Temenathus developed

    incredibly overdeveloped shoulder muscles that open up to reveal soft glands

    that can squirt streams of this acid up to 10 yards away. Opening its shoulder

    glands releases such a terrible stench that the smell alone can send victims

  • reeling; allowing even a human nose to detect and track Temenathus for hours

    after it uses this attack.